Title: Parachute Man
Lab goal: Exploring the physics of a toy army man's descent when parachuting.
LAB 1
Materials:
1. 3 massed parachute men.
2. A stopwatch
3. A sonogram
4. A means of measuring distance (yardstic, sharpie, string.)
Procedure:
1)Mass army men (m=6g)
2) Measure the distance from the top of the pit to the sonogram using your long string.
3)Drop army man from top of pit (d=5.3m)
4)Record with stop watch how long it takes to reach the floor from top of the pit in seconds
5)Divide by height by time it took to get velocity
6)Multiply velocity times mass to get impulse
7)Repeat for each army man
Data/Conclusions:
Parachute Man 1
Time it Took to Reach the Ground from 5.3 M
Trial 1= 3.6 seconds V=d/t V= 1.47
Trial 2= 4.1 seconds V=d/t V= 1.29
Trial 3= 3.9 seconds V=d/t V= 1.36
Trial 4= 3.2 seconds V=d/t V= 1.71
Parachute Man 2
Time it Took to Reach the Ground from 5.3 M
Trial 1= 2.9 seconds V=d/t V= 1.83
Trial 2= 2.8 seconds V=d/t V= 1.89
Trial 3= 2.2 seconds V=d/t V= 2.41
Trial 4= 1.9 seconds V=d/t V= 2.79
Parachute Man 3
Time it Took to Reach the Ground from 5.3 M
Trial 1= 3.1 seconds V=d/t V= 1.71
Trial 2= 2.8 seconds V=d/t V= 1.89
Trial 3= 2.7 seconds V=d/t V= 1.96
Trial 4= 1.8 seconds V=d/t V= 2.94
AVERAGE VELOCITY: 1.94 m/s
AVG IMPULSE: 11.64 Newton seconds
LAB 2 -
Procedure:
1)Open Logger Pro, obtain three army men (m=6g)
2)Delete position vs. time graph, keep velocity time graph
3)Drop Army Man with parachute from top of pit (5.3 m)
4)Do one trial for each army man (3 different trials)
4)Use the logger pro to calculate potential and kinetic energy
Data/Conclusions
Trial 1 for Potential Energy
PE=mgH
Reflection/Conclusion:
In our fist lab we found the velocity of our parachute man by dropping him from the top of the pit stairs three times. We recorded how long it took him to hit the ground from those 5.3 meters and then divided 5.3 by the time to get the velocity. We averaged our trials and calcualted that the average velocity was 1.94 m/s. Impulse is found by multiplying the mass by the velocity. To calculate that, we multipled the mass of 6g by 1.94 m/s to get that our change in momentum- 11.64 Newton seconds.
After this we decided to find how much energy our little man had at different heights in his decent. We found his potential energy at the top of the stairs through PE= m(g)(h). The kinetic energy at that point was zero because he wasn't in motion. Then by using the sonogram we found the velocities while he dropped and used those to calcualte the increase of his KE as he fell. The points in the graph where it spikes is when the little man was spiraling and the sonogram did not catch his motion. He fell in a spiral-like pattern many times and thus his motion was not always detectable. The good points on the VT graph are when the velocity is shown to be around -2 m/s. Because of these glitches some of our KE equations do not make sense. But we were able to find all the PE equations accuratley.
Lastly, we decided to try to find the velocity of the little man with a hole in his parachute. Unfortunatley the hole changed the spiral pattern of the little man and he fell unpredicatably. We tried moving the sonogram but he kept falling in different places. Therefore, we were happy with the rest of our results.
Overall, the generic parachute man yielded relatively sporadic data in his descents. We, having analyzed the velocity and energies of the descent, have come to the conclusion that no two trials will be the same. We dropped the parachute man into the pit with identical conditions each time (wind, etc.) However, the parachute man himself possess a flimsy plastic parachute and poorly manufactured string. Also, the time allotted for descent is shortened, compared to that of an actual skydiver (around eight minutes, with a drop of a safe 800m.)
Title: Parachute Man
Lab goal: Exploring the physics of a toy army man's descent when parachuting.
LAB 1
Materials:
1. 3 massed parachute men.
2. A stopwatch
3. A sonogram
4. A means of measuring distance (yardstic, sharpie, string.)
Procedure:
1)Mass army men (m=6g)
2) Measure the distance from the top of the pit to the sonogram using your long string.
3)Drop army man from top of pit (d=5.3m)
4)Record with stop watch how long it takes to reach the floor from top of the pit in seconds
5)Divide by height by time it took to get velocity
6)Multiply velocity times mass to get impulse
7)Repeat for each army man
Data/Conclusions:
Parachute Man 1
Time it Took to Reach the Ground from 5.3 M
Trial 1= 3.6 seconds V=d/t V= 1.47
Trial 2= 4.1 seconds V=d/t V= 1.29
Trial 3= 3.9 seconds V=d/t V= 1.36
Trial 4= 3.2 seconds V=d/t V= 1.71
Parachute Man 2
Time it Took to Reach the Ground from 5.3 M
Trial 1= 2.9 seconds V=d/t V= 1.83
Trial 2= 2.8 seconds V=d/t V= 1.89
Trial 3= 2.2 seconds V=d/t V= 2.41
Trial 4= 1.9 seconds V=d/t V= 2.79
Parachute Man 3
Time it Took to Reach the Ground from 5.3 M
Trial 1= 3.1 seconds V=d/t V= 1.71
Trial 2= 2.8 seconds V=d/t V= 1.89
Trial 3= 2.7 seconds V=d/t V= 1.96
Trial 4= 1.8 seconds V=d/t V= 2.94
AVERAGE VELOCITY: 1.94 m/s
AVG IMPULSE: 11.64 Newton seconds
LAB 2 -
Procedure:
1)Open Logger Pro, obtain three army men (m=6g)
2)Delete position vs. time graph, keep velocity time graph
3)Drop Army Man with parachute from top of pit (5.3 m)
4)Do one trial for each army man (3 different trials)
4)Use the logger pro to calculate potential and kinetic energy
Data/Conclusions
Trial 1 for Potential Energy
PE=mgH
0 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*3.6 = 211.68
.5 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*2.7 = 158.76
1 second PE=6(-9.8)*1.973 = 116.01
1.5 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*1.048 = 61.62
Trial 2
0 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*4.9 = 288.12
.5 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*4.056 = 238.49
1 second PE=6(-9.8)*3.41 = 200.51
1.5 seconds PE=6(-9.8)* (Already hit ground)
Trial 3
0 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*(4.9) = 293.41
.5 seconds PE=6(-9.8)*4.49 = 264.01
Trial 1 for Kinetic Energy
0 seconds KE= 1/2*6*0^2 = 0
.5 seconds KE= 1/2*6*-1.48^2 = 6.57
1 second KE= 1/2*6*6.463^2 = 25.311
1.5 seconds KE= 1/2*6*-1.8^2 = 9.72
Trial 2 for Kinetic Energy
0 seconds KE= 1/2*6*0^2 = 0
.5 seconds KE= 1/2*6*1.803^2 = 9.7542
1 second KE= 1/2*6*6.889 = 20.667
1.5 seconds KE= 1/2*6*0^2 = 0
Reflection/Conclusion:
In our fist lab we found the velocity of our parachute man by dropping him from the top of the pit stairs three times. We recorded how long it took him to hit the ground from those 5.3 meters and then divided 5.3 by the time to get the velocity. We averaged our trials and calcualted that the average velocity was 1.94 m/s. Impulse is found by multiplying the mass by the velocity. To calculate that, we multipled the mass of 6g by 1.94 m/s to get that our change in momentum- 11.64 Newton seconds.
After this we decided to find how much energy our little man had at different heights in his decent. We found his potential energy at the top of the stairs through PE= m(g)(h). The kinetic energy at that point was zero because he wasn't in motion. Then by using the sonogram we found the velocities while he dropped and used those to calcualte the increase of his KE as he fell. The points in the graph where it spikes is when the little man was spiraling and the sonogram did not catch his motion. He fell in a spiral-like pattern many times and thus his motion was not always detectable. The good points on the VT graph are when the velocity is shown to be around -2 m/s. Because of these glitches some of our KE equations do not make sense. But we were able to find all the PE equations accuratley.
Lastly, we decided to try to find the velocity of the little man with a hole in his parachute. Unfortunatley the hole changed the spiral pattern of the little man and he fell unpredicatably. We tried moving the sonogram but he kept falling in different places. Therefore, we were happy with the rest of our results.
Overall, the generic parachute man yielded relatively sporadic data in his descents. We, having analyzed the velocity and energies of the descent, have come to the conclusion that no two trials will be the same. We dropped the parachute man into the pit with identical conditions each time (wind, etc.) However, the parachute man himself possess a flimsy plastic parachute and poorly manufactured string. Also, the time allotted for descent is shortened, compared to that of an actual skydiver (around eight minutes, with a drop of a safe 800m.)